Open Payments Registration System Reopens for Business

CMS Extends Deadline for Physician Review, Correction of Data

CMS has reopened the registration system for its Open Payments transparency program and is extending until Sept. 10 the timeframe during which physicians and teaching hospitals can review and, if needed, dispute financial information reported about them by manufacturers and group purchasing organizations.

According to an Aug. 15 press release(www.cms.gov), the extension is intended to account for the time that the system was unavailable to physicians. The original timeline gave physicians until Aug. 27 to review and contest any incorrect data.

The public website will go live on Sept. 30 as previously scheduled.

As reported by AAFP News earlier this week, CMS disabled the registration system on Aug. 3 to resolve a technical issue discovered after one physician raised concerns about payment data reported about him.

"CMS takes data integrity very seriously and took swift action after a physician reported a problem," said CMS Deputy Administrator Shantanu Agrawal, M.D., in the release.

"We have identified the root cause of the problem and have instituted a system fix to prevent similar errors. We strongly encourage physicians to review their records before the deadline and before the data are posted (publicly) to identify any discrepancies," said Agrawal, who also serves as director of CMS' Center for Program Integrity.